Entry requirements

Length

Department

Course overview

This degree provides intensive Mandarin language tuition, one year at a top Chinese university in Beijing, and analytical sociological skills for you to understand and actively engage in a global world in which China is a major superpower.

Why study BA Sociology & Chinese at Goldsmiths?

This interdisciplinary degree gives you the chance to study sociology with a year abroad in China.

You’ll explore how societies, cultures and people are formed, organised and develop, alongside specific modules about Chinese culture. By studying both subjects, you’ll cover topics from Chinese literature and philosophy to global development and migration.

You’ll learn how to speak and write Mandarin and spend a year in China improving your language skills at a top university in Beijing and experiencing Chinese society and culture first-hand.

As part of the Department of Sociology, you’ll be studying in a department that’s ranked top in London (The Guardian University League Tables 2017) and immersed in a research-active community that’s investigating topics from human rights and social justice to inequality and the super-rich.

After graduating from Goldsmiths you may be able enrol for one further year of study at Capital Normal University (CNU) in China, leading to the award of a BA in Chinese from this prestigious institution.

Contact the department

What you'll study

Overview

The programme runs over four years and is taught jointly by the Confucius Institute and the world-class Department of Sociology. Over three years at Goldsmiths, you will be taught Mandarin and different aspects of Chinese society and culture. You will learn about how societies and cultures are formed and organised. What do we know of the birth and development of the modern state? What is the role of culture in people’s sense of identity and belonging? How do markets, and the control of economies, shape the lives of individuals and societies? How are people and societies formed now, in the context of new media technologies, globalisation, economic control, and military proliferation? And how are these societies now, different from those in the past?

You will engage with these questions and more.

You will also have the opportunity to live in Beijing for a year and to study at the Capital Normal University. While in Beijing, you will continue with your Mandarin training, but you will also be able to experience Chinese society and its varied cultures first-hand. Then, when you return to London in your fourth year, you will have a chance to consolidate that learning by writing a dissertation.

Throughout your studies, the Confucius Institute will provide film nights and various cultural events to complement your learning outside of the classroom. This will also give you the opportunity to meet new people and experience Chinese culture.

Year 1 (credit level 4)

Mandarin 1

30 credits

In this module you'll cover the basics of beginner’s level Mandarin within 12 weeks. You'll learn to comprehend and talk in very simple Chinese words and patterns, paving the way for you to further your study of Chinese.By the end of the module, you should:

have a basic knowledge of Chinese Pinyin, basic grammar and simple sentence patterns

be able to recognise around 300 Chinese characters

be able to approximately comprehend simple, basic and very limited language materials closely related to personal or everyday life

be able to introduce oneself or make oneself understood by others on very limited simple vocabulary with the help of body language or other means

be able to copy simple characters or words, fill in information that is closely related to personal life or provide very brief written answers to relevant questions in very simple basic vocabulary

You'll take part in introductory grammar classes, tutorials, drills and conversation classes, and study the written language in simplified forms. Teaching will focus on developing your skills in listening, speaking (through individual and group presentations and role play), reading, grammar and writing.

Mandarin 2

30 credits

The main objective of this module is to continue to work on basic sentence patterns, grammar and ways of expressing yourself, helping with your acquisition of basic modern language through attention to the spoken forms of the language and to their written equivalents, so as to gain greater knowledge of Chinese language, culture and social life. You’ll work with written text in both Chinese characters and Pinyin.

By the end of this module, you should:

have a good command of basic Chinese grammar and sentence patterns recognise around 800 Chinese characters, and have a basic working knowledge of the vocabulary based on those character

be able basically to understand a brief conversation or exchange that is closely related to personal or everyday life

be able to describe basic information about yourself and others in very simple Mandarin

be able to write short messages on familiar topics for general social purposes

You’ll take part in grammar classes, tutorials, drills and conversation classes and study the written language in simplified forms. Teaching will focus on developing your skills in listening, speaking (through individual and group presentations and role play), reading, grammar and writing.

Modern Knowledge, Modern Power

30 credits

This module aims to introduce you to the ‘sociological imagination’. What is distinctive about sociology? With a focus on knowledge and power, this module looks at how sociology has developed, with an emphasis on the study of relations between individuals and groups in modern industrial societies.

Culture and Society

30 credits

This module is primarily concerned with the relations between culture and social processes, and approaches these in a number of ways: by outlining various sociological uses of ‘culture’, by identifying the role of culture in examples of macrosocial phenomena (eg education, consumption, the city), and by discussing microsociological analyses of the role of culture in social interaction.

Chinese Literature: 1919 to 1949

15 credits

You will have the opportunity to appreciate various forms of Chinese literary works including poetry, prose and fiction. You will be expected to develop critical reading and thinking skills by analysing a range of images in literary works and discussing particular aspects including feminism, poliitcs and the historical and cultural impact of the work.

Chinese Literature: 1949 onwards

15 credits

You will have the opportunity to appreciate various forms of Chinese literary works including poetry, prose and fiction. You will be expected to develop critical reading and thinking skills by analysing a range of images in literary works and discussing particular aspects including feminism, poliitcs and the historical and cultural impact of the work.

Chinese Philosophy: Confuciunism and Taoism

15 credits

Through guided reading, discussions and tutorials you will develop your understanding of Chinese early world-views as well as some of the fundamental concepts of Confucianism and Taoism on nature, society and life. You will have the chance read the classical works of Confucius, Mengzi, Chuang Tzu and others, and think critically about the ways in which classical Chinese philosophies such as Confucisianism and Taoism are embedded in Chinese people's lives today.

Chinese Philosophy: Legalism, Mohism and Buddhism

15 credits

Through guided reading, discussions and tutorials you will develop your understanding of Chinese early world-views as well as some of the fundamental concepts of Legalism, Mohism and Buddhism on nature, society and life. You will have the chance read the classical works of Hanfeizi, Mozi and Buddhism works and others, and think critically about the ways in which classical Chinese philosophies such as Legalism, Mohism and Buddhism are embedded in Chinese people's lives today.

Philosophy and Methodology of the Social Sciences

15 credits

All sociologists have had to deal with some conflict between the idea of sociological knowledge as scientific, guided by reason, and human subjectivity, which gives us differing conceptions of what is real or true. This module looks at some problems in finding out about the social world, dealing with values, and interpreting social reality or realities.

Sociology of Culture and Communication

15 credits

This begins by focusing on how culture has been conceived in the major traditions of sociological thought and moves on to consider the significance of the development of mass communications research and cultural studies for a sociology of culture

Central Issues in Sociological Analysis

15 credits

This module looks at central questions in Sociology about how to study of society. It focuses in particular on issues of agency and structure; holism and individualism; continuity and change; public and private; structure and self; laws, observation and interpretation.

The Making of the Modern World

15 credits

Exploring the sub-discipline of historical sociology, the module focuses on the formation of the modern state out of earlier types of political organisation, and different ways of understanding state power. It examines processes such as: revolution; the development of nationalism; the nature of imperialism; post-socialism; and the rise of fascism.

Migration in Context

15 credits

With migration frequently presented as a situation of ‘crisis’, this module considers broader contexts and longer histories of migration to and within Europe, and will consider the academic field migration as an inter-disciplinary field of study.

Exploring contemporary literature from writers and theorists working in a European context, the module will present students with starting points from which to consider migration using core sociological concepts, particularly of place, ‘race’ and power.

The module will follow a migration pathway, with focus points considered through lenses of leaving, moving, arriving and staying:

Leaving - We will examine those legal frameworks and international agreements relevant to migration, and will explore the uneasy distinction between so-called forced migration and economic migration.

Moving - We will consider borders and immigration controls, border theories, and the differentiated legal statutes of migrating people as linked to colonial and postcolonial relationships.

Arriving - We will reflect on notions of displacement, exile, integration strategies and policies, representations of migrants and racism, and examples of activism with and by migrants. Staying – We will look at migration and cities, and focus on experiences of young migrants in particular.

15 credits

Year Abroad

You will study a year at Capital Normal University, Beijing. This is worth 120 credits.

Year 3 (credit level 6)

You study the following modules:

Advanced Chinese Journal Reading – 30 credits

Advanced Chinese Practical Writing – 30 credits

Dissertation – 30 credits

You then choose a range of option modules up to the value of 30 credits. There are a range of option modules, including:

Sociology of Visuality

15 credits

This module is about the relationships between vision, sensuality and the production of truth, knowledge, and identity in Euro-American cultures. It asks: how do historically and culturally specific ways of seeing and sensing shape ways of knowing (epistemology) and ways of being (ontology)? What are the relationships between vision, sensuality and power?

What are the epistemological, methodological and ethical demands that are made upon sociology in its encounters with the visual and the sensual? Through discussion of topics such as Deigo Velázquez' 1656 painting Las Meninas, the camera and photography, and the visual manipulation of identity through ‘passing’, the module will provide a forum for thinking about the pleasures, dangers and contingencies present in visualising the social world.

Sociologies of Emerging Worlds

15 credits

Conventional ways of demarcating economic, power, and cultural relationships have long relied up notions of "North and South", "first and third", "east and west", "colonial and post-colonial." These means of envisioning the world and of tracing the intersections among diverse places, times, and peoples, while maintaining some salience, no longer seem to grasp what is really taking place.

The module, in particular, explores the emerging relationships between Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and Africa—articulations that have been elaborated over a long history but which now take shape in new and powerful ways.

Additionally, there are a plurality of "worlds” that enjoin different actors and spaces that cannot be easily defined according to geopolitical understandings--where information infrastructure, design, telecommunications, and travel combine to create new possibilities of transaction. The module looks at how these worlds affect our understandings of sociality, actors, and collective life, in general, and the shape and operations of emerging powers in particular.

Citizenship and Human Rights

15 credits

This module is concerned with the historical development of citizenship and human rights, especially in relation to the nation-state and the international states system. It is also concerned with the value of human rights, explored through consideration of any or all of the following topics: Are human rights cosmopolitan? Is there a human rights movement? Does the enforcement of human rights increase democracy? Are human rights structured so that they necessarily privilege certain groups as ‘human’?

Global Development and Underdevelopment

15 credits

Globalisations is both a dominant discourse of powerful actors on the world scene, as well as the main target for one of the most vibrant new social movements. This module aims to develop a critical and historical understanding of the issues which inform contemporary debates on globalisation.

15 credits

Teaching style

This programme is mainly taught through scheduled learning - a mixture of lectures, seminars and workshops. You’ll also be expected to undertake a significant amount of independent study. This includes carrying out required and additional reading, preparing topics for discussion, and producing essays or project work.

The following information gives an indication of the typical proportions of learning and teaching for each year of this programme*:

Year 1 - 23% scheduled learning, 77% independent learning

Year 2 - 23% scheduled learning, 77% independent learning

Year 3 - 100% placement

Year 4 - 18% scheduled learning, 82% independent learning

How you’ll be assessed

You’ll be assessed by a variety of methods, depending on your module choices. These include coursework, and unseen written, listening and oral exams.

The following information gives an indication of how you can typically expect to be assessed on each year of this programme*:

Year 1 - 8% coursework, 72% written exam, 20% practical

Year 2 - 8% coursework, 72% written exam, 20% practical

Year 3 - Year abroad

Year 4 - 60% coursework, 26% written exam, 14% practical

*Please note that these are averages are based on enrolments for 2017/18. Each student’s time in teaching, learning and assessment activities will differ based on individual module choices. Find out more about how this information is calculated.

Additional costs

In addition to your tuition fees, you'll be responsible for any additional costs associated with your course, such buying stationery and paying for photocopying. You can find out more about what you need to budget for on our study costs page.

There may also be specific additional costs associated with your programme. This can include things like paying for field trips or specialist materials for your assignments. Please check the programme specification for more information.

Funding opportunities

Careers

Skills

During the degree you will develop a strong understanding of Mandarin and its relationship to people, cultural identity and cultural forms, and social organisation, including state formation, global marketization, and forms of neo and post-imperialism. As the world is becoming more global, and with China poised as a major superpower, there needs to be more people with an understanding of the social and cultural impact, benefits and problems that this can create.

Careers

The knowledge of Mandarin will benefit graduates by opening doors to a wider international employment market.

After graduating from Goldsmiths, you may be able enrol for one further year of study in China and, upon passing the additional year at Capital Normal University in Beijing, this will lead to the award of a BA in Chinese from this prestigious institution. Students who successfully complete the programme have the possibility of seeking financial awards for postgraduate study in China.

Sociologists enter careers that centre on the challenges and demands that members of a society face. This could be jobs in social services, education, criminal justice, welfare services, government, the voluntary sector, management, the creative industries, marketing and policy.

Student work

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